Dungeon Chat!?

Chisi moved the holographic pen on the holographic board as she spoke,

"I am fine… I got saved... and sent!!" she turned to Ryu and spoke,

"See, we can talk to seniors this way."

"So, these seniors you talk about, are they all dungeon lords?" Ryu questioned, even though it was obvious from the name appearing, but this dungeon had nothing aside from illusions so far, so he couldn't help it,

"Yes, there are many Seniors; all are dungeon lords," Chisi said as she readjusted her glasses,

[Dungeon Lord of Illusory: I am okay. I got saved

Dungeon Lord of Hell's Flame: Chisi, is it due to them? That Phenex mentioned?

Dungeon Lord of Primal Frost: Chisi, are they gone? You can tell big brother if there is an Issue.

Dungeon Lord of SouthSeas: Big sister… will help you too]

Ryu read their chats as he looked at Chisi, who was immersed in it as she replied,

[Chisi: those people are inside the dungeon core room now!!

Random Lord1: What are you doing!?

Random Lord 2: If they took your core, you are done for!!

Random Lord 3: Chisi is as good as dead!!

Dungeon Lord of Primal Frost: Are they threatening you!? Chisi, tell them whatever they ask, save your life!!

Dungeon Lord of Calm Ilse: Did you forget the rules!! Don't tell them anything!!

Dungeon Lord of SouthSeas: Chisi, tell big sister if it is for you, I'll force my way out.

Dungeon Lord of Hell's Fire: Chisi, hear me beg for your life. Explain how you are essential for the economy and other things. It'll work. It has the highest chance of working!!]

'This really is like a discord server!?' Ryu thought as he looked at the chats curiously, and Chisi turned to him nervously as she fidgeted her fingers; she asked cutely,

"You… you wouldn't kill me, right?"

Ryu, whose attention was taken by the familiar yet different interface, nodded as he spoke without paying much attention,

"Maybe… maybe not."

"whaa!?" Chisi shouted at Ryu's nonchalant reply, and Ryu's attention was pulled away from the chat,

"Big brother, are you really going to kill her?" Jue asked, and Aiena, who stood beside her, added,

"She seems quite innocent."

"I mean, she was the one who tried to kill us first, right?" Ryu said as he shrugged his shoulders,

"But… but that was my job as dungeon lord."

Jue and Aiena looked at Ryu, and he knew their gazes were filled with mercy for the dungeon lord before them. Ryu himself had no plans of killing her,

'But killing that bastard cat….' Ryu thought as he took Fusion Souls a bit far from Chisi to discuss some plans,

"Ryu, are we really going to kill her?" Aiena asked as she seemed a bit concerned about killing Chisi, who seemed innocent,

"Big brother, I don't want to kill her. I want to ask her about the cat, too," Jue said as he rubbed the back of his head,

"We are not killing her, but you must pretend otherwise… that's the only way we'll get information out of her," Ryu said with a smirk, and they nodded as Jue thought,

'Big brother is genius,' but suddenly a Cat voice came from between them,

"Meow Meow," and hearing it, Ryu looked at it with a smile that made the white kitty named Rei shocked,

'This human… is thinking something!!' she knew that smile was not the one filled with affection. Ryu turned to Aiena and Jue with the same smile and asked,

"I can kill this cat, though, right?"

"No?" Aiena replied, confused as Ryu asked the fearsome question so brightly it seemed as if he asked for something good,

"Meow?" Rei also tilted her head, confused at what she heard, only Jue who had seen a similar appearance of Ryu in the past before cutting the bandit's family jewels, shouted,

"No!! big brother, she is a pet!!" Jue replied finally, making Ryu sigh as he thought,

'This brat… I mean, it is a unique monster!!! A salvaged skill!!' Ryu looked at Rei the white cat dead in the eyes as he thought,

'You are lucky I didn't come to the dungeon alone,' Rei hissed as it hid behind Aiena's legs. They made their way back to Chisi, who was shakingly moving the hologram pen on the hologram board, with her eyes wet a bit,

"Oii, what happened?" Ryu asked as even he couldn't help after seeing her face in such a mess, her glasses were disoriented, and her eyes were red due to holding back tears,

"I don't… I don't want to die. I wanted to have other pets too…. I am important to the economy, too; I am just a small Chalawa. I didn't even get to see the first people who cleared my dungeon!! Even lived cheaply as seniors taught!!" she began crying messily, and Aiena couldn't hold back as she moved to her and began patting her,

"Ryu…" Aiena looked at him, asking for permission to tell Chisi the truth, but Ryu looked away as he didn't feel good either by making her cry so much, and Aiena finally spoke,

"There there, calm down… I promise Ryu won't kill you if you answer his questions" Chisi, who was crying, felt relieved being cooed by Aiena, and she wiped her tears with her fingers without removing her specs and spoke with a hoarse voice,

"Prom…wise?" she looked at Aiena's face, who nodded with a caring expression, finally calming Chisi completely,

It took a while for Chisi to be ready for questioning as she would resist being separated from Aiena, with whom she felt safe, but finally, Ryu released a bit of his [Mana Might], and Chisi separated from Aiena in a flash,

"I'll answer any questions," she says, her legs turning into a haze as she floats a bit above the ground,

"Jue, you ask your first," Ryu said to Jue as he himself was interested in it, pointing at Rei, who was trying to grab the haze Chisi was emitting. Jue asked,

"This cat is alive right? It is different from other Dungeon monsters."

Chisi looked surprised and adjusted her glasses as she bent forward toward Jue as she spoke,

"You figured it out… Rei have a soul, unlike other monsters!!" Chisi said as she picked up Rei in her arms,

Jue seemed satisfied with the answer, but Ryu wasn't as he asked,

"What do you mean by having a soul, unlike other monsters? Don't leave out details," Ryu asked, and Chisi continued explaining,

"Except for unique monsters, every other monster is like a puppet of meat. Unique monsters rarely appear after spawning various monsters. For most dungeon masters like me, they are their only real companions" Chisi affectionately patted Rei, who purred,

'Is that all… why would there be alive monsters if it doesn't serve a purpose' Ryu wondered, as he couldn't believe being a company is all there to unique dungeon monsters, he looked deep into Chisi's eyes with a broad smile brightly as he touched his dagger holder as he spoke,

"That's all right? There is nothing more right…. I got a lie detection skill, so I wouldn't be able to help you anymore if you lie."

Chisi got shivers from Ryu's stare and smile, as her frames tilted, and she spoke in a little voice,

"There is more…. But" Chisi floated a bit up as she looked away from Ryu's face, in return to which Ryu turned to Aiena and spoke in a mellow voice,

"Aiena, I don't think I can keep my promise."

"But…" Aiena was about to speak, but before she could even complete Chisi said in a panicked voice,

"Just let me ask seniors!! Just a second!!" Chisi begged as she floated upward in a subconscious attempt to increase her distance from Ryu and opened the chat window in the air as she began typing,

Ryu, Aiena, and Jue waited as Chisi's expression turned from danger to smile and then to panic again; as she looked at Ryu, she finally floated down. An expression of nervousness was present on her face,

"Senior, said I can tell you…." Chisi said as she moved towards Aiena to assure her security, and Ryu waited for her to continue,

"Senior said they also have a request for you," Chisi said, but Ryu replied nonchalantly,

"First, tell me about the Unique pets. I'll listen to their request afterward" Chisi nodded as she spoke,

"They can grow and level up."

"That's all?" Ryu confirmed,

"Yes, only unique monsters in the dungeon can level up and gain levels and evolve, as they are the living ones," Chisi said with a slight nod,

'So If I leave her alive now and come back later, I can have the unique skill of a stronger monster… hehe' Ryu stared at Rei with a smile, who instantly felt a sense of crisis,

"Meowww… Meoww" Rei panicked as Ryu approached Chisi, and finally, Ryu patted her, who was held in Chisi's arm as he spoke,

"Be sure to grow up good!! Okay, kitty" The words felt heartfelt, and Chisi was confused as her perception of Ryu tilted ever so slightly seeing Ryu wishing well to Rei, but Rei was shouting in her mind and would've shouted from the mouth if she could,

'This human is no good!! Let me move!!' but all that others heard was Rei purring and meowing while being patted by Ryu, so immersed in it that she didn't even move, but the truth was,

'My body won't move due to fear!! This human is scary… save me, Chisi!!'

-to be continued